Duncan Williams, Eastwood Anaba Call For Suspension Of National Cathedral Construction Until Independent Audit
Two eminent clergymen and members of the Board of Trustees of the controversial National Cathedral project have called for its immediate suspension and audit.
The two β Archbishop Duncan Williams and Reverend Eastwood Anaba say their call is based on the controversies surrounding the project.
According to them, the suspension will pave the way for transparency and accountability to be provided to the Ghanaian people.
In a memo sent to the Board of Trustees on Monday, January 23, and sighted by MyJoyOnline.com, they called for independent audit into the expenditures of the project.
The two respected preachers said the auditor(s) must be one that is nationally recognised.
βThat in the spirit and cause of transparency and accountability to the Ghanaian people, the current Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral shall appoint an independent, nationally recognised accounting firm to audit all public funds contributed to and spent by the National Cathedral.
βAuditors will also audit the overall cost of the project. This appointment of an auditor shall take place before the deferment of activities of the Board of Trustees,β excerpts of the memo said.
Meanwhile, the two Bible scholars also said the project should only continue until the economic conditions in the country improve.
βThat current activities advancing the construction of Ghanaβs National Cathedral shall be deferred until the atmospherics in Ghana are improved and the audit of the Cathedral account is done,β excerpts of the memo added.
The National Cathedral Project has been one of the most controversial public issues since the project was first announced by President Akufo-Addo.
Apart from questions of accountability which have been repeatedly raised by the Minority in Parliament, there have also been concerns about the relevance of the project, in the face of the countryβs economic crisis.
Amidst the plethora of issues, founder of the LightHouse Chapel International, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, resigned from the Cathedralβs Board of Trustee in August 2022.
In so doing, the preacher did not assign any specific reason for his departure; leaving the public to rely on their own conjectures and speculations about why the celebrated man of God left the scene.
However, after five months of his resignation, the Bishopβs justifications for exiting the Board have been revealed.
The seasoned Bible teacher noted in his resignation letter which appears to have been leaked recently that his unresolved concerns about the cost of the National Cathedral and other pertinent issues triggered his exit.
The said letter was addressed by the Bishop to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral.
βI feel that the treatment of the issues I have raised in my several letters has been unfortunate. My letters have been ignored in the past; not attended to for years, and at best addressed flippantlyβ, Dag Heward-Mills said.
βYou may recall I have spoken passionately and written extensively about the costs, the design, the location, the fundraising, the mobilization of the churches, and the role of the trustees.
βThese, if heeded, would have made our project more achievable. Generally speaking, my inputs, my opinions, and my letters have been trivialized and set asideβ, portions of the letter further disclosed.
Source: myjoyonline.com